Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Posted by Defense World Staff on Jan 5th, 2026

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the forty-nine brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, thirty-eight have given a buy recommendation and four have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $822.2222.

META has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $905.00 to $875.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $915.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $720.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. BNP Paribas Exane assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, November 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Arete Research set a $718.00 target price on Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, December 4th.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $650.41 on Monday. Meta Platforms has a fifty-two week low of $479.80 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The company has a market capitalization of $1.64 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.73, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $647.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $705.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 1.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.03 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $646.00, for a total value of $374,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,167 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,983,882. The trade was a 8.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $658.14, for a total transaction of $340,258.38. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 12,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,029,308. This trade represents a 4.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 41,557 shares of company stock valued at $25,905,353. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 608,429.2% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 59,775,823 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $44,119,937,000 after purchasing an additional 59,766,000 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth $23,155,393,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 73,443.1% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,417,003 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,212,506,000 after purchasing an additional 8,405,558 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $64,158,971,000 after buying an additional 1,650,435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,191,175,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:

Positive Sentiment: Meta’s acquisition of AI startup Manus (reported >$2B) is being viewed as strategically accretive — Manus has rapid ARR growth and deployed AI agents at scale, which could strengthen Meta’s business-focused AI offerings and ad performance. Why Meta’s +$2B AI Startup Acquisition Could Be a Huge Win
Positive Sentiment: Research/coverage remains upbeat: Rosenblatt reaffirmed a Buy on META, and commentators (including Jim Cramer) have highlighted Meta as a buy, supporting investor confidence. Rosenblatt Securities Reaffirms Buy Rating for Meta Platforms
Positive Sentiment: Monetization tailwinds continue: the WSJ reports Instagram Reels has become a ~\$50B business — evidence Meta’s AI-driven ad products are driving revenue expansion. How Meta’s Reels Became a $50 Billion Business
Neutral Sentiment: Options market activity has surged around META, signaling elevated trader interest and potential volatility but not a clear directional signal for fundamentals. Spotlight on Meta Platforms: Analyzing the Surge in Options Activity
Neutral Sentiment: Industry pieces and stock roundups (Fool, 247WallSt) compare Meta to peers and include it in AI/tech buy lists — helpful context but not immediate catalysts. Meta Platforms vs. Pinterest
Negative Sentiment: Insider selling has surfaced (including a ~\$341k sale by Jennifer Newstead and separate COO stock sales), which can spook investors despite being modest relative to Meta’s market cap. Jennifer Newstead Sells 519 Shares of Meta Platforms
Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/legal pressure increased: the U.S. Virgin Islands filed a lawsuit over scam ads and Reuters ran an investigation alleging Meta misled regulators about fake ads — these raise reputational and potential legal risk that can weigh on the stock. U.S. Virgin Islands Files Lawsuit Against Meta Over Scam Ads and User Safety

About Meta Platforms

(Get Free Report)

Meta Platforms, Inc (NASDAQ: META), formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses.

Meta’s core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.